Stuart Learmouth Undulator Fell Race
On Sunday morning on 29th September there were two MAC’s ran Stuart Learmouth Undulator Fell Race hosted by the Wirksworth Running Club. The weather was chilly but once we all got moving up those hills we soon warmed up for a challenging route ahead.
The Route
The route starts in Stoney Wood, land reclaimed from Stonecroft Quarry planted with trees and now an important green space near the heart of Wirksworth. The start is narrow and very steep as it climbs to the star disc at the top of the quarry.
After a brief respite the route crosses the old Middle Peak Quarry and circles the quarry boundary, climbing all the time until coming out onto pastureland. The route crosses several fields, heading towards Middleton Top and the historic winding house at the top of the Middleton Incline of the Cromford and High Peak Railway.
After crossing the B5035, the route continues in an upward fashion, crosses the High Peak Trail and opens out onto open farmland. This is the first time that you’re not climbing since the start and we’ve broken through 1000ft, that’s a climb of about 440ft in a shade under 2 miles (or 135m in the first 3km for the metricated).
In front of you now are the wind turbines around Ryder Point Quarry. There’s a quick drop down to a road crossing and then a very steep climb up to the track joining the Ryder Point Quarry and Brassington Moor Quarry. This time you’ve reached 1180ft above sea level. There’s another drop and now another very steep climb up to the trig point on Harborough Rocks, an outcrop of dolomitic limestone popular with climbers, and you’re at the top. Nearly halfway and you’re standing about 1230 ft above sea level with fantastic scenery in all directions.
The next challenge is getting down. If you know where you’re going, there is an almost direct route, through the crags and boulders, down to the High Peak Trail. If you don’t, then follow the flags gently!
Once off the rocks, the next 2 miles are generally down, the first is along the High Peak Trail, the former track bed of the Cromford and High Peak Railway, so it is pancake flat. The second takes you off the trail and onto Carsington Pastures, alongside the Carsington windfarm and then very steeply down into the village of Carsington itself. All the way, you will have views of Carsington Water, a man-made reservoir opened in 1992 and now a popular sailing venue.
All that climbing has gone, and we are back down, pretty much where we started, travelling along the Carsington to Hopton village road, passing Hopton Hall before leaving the road and heading back up towards Middleton Top on the last major climb. Over 6 miles gone at the bottom, 7 gone by the time you turn at Middleton and head for home.
The last mile and a bit are all downhill straight through Middle Peak Quarry and then skirting the edge of Stoney Wood before dropping down again to the finish line.
Results:
First Male Runner was Colin Brearley 1:05:06.6 – Holme Pierrepont
First Female Runner was Hannah Warrener 1:18:43.1 – Long Eaton Running Club
First MAC to the finish line Gavin Elliott(80th) 1:37:43.6 and myself Sally Owen (90th) 1:42:37.4 (90th) There were 98 Runners all together.
